


Summer camp.

by Blue_raven18



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Cheesy, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Murder, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2019-12-07 04:36:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18229991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_raven18/pseuds/Blue_raven18
Summary: Being in a summer camp seems boring to Sherlock. But when he meets John Watson, things get better. And when a murder occurs, things get much better.





	1. Arrive.

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first fanfiction, I hope you enjoy it :) (Also, I'm learning English, so, sorry for the mistakes).

He definitely didn’t want to go to that camp.

Regardless the fact that it was a big waste of time and completely unnecessary, it was going to be boring.

A place full of hormonal teenagers wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to spend two weeks of his life.

But maybe… he could try to get some newspapers and read about old murders.

Or expose some of the deepest thoughts of the teenagers that were going to be around him and see their reactions.

Or…or…Nope, it definitely was going to be boring.

Sherlock got off his parents’ car and wave his hand saying goodbye with a smile on his face.

He turned around and then his mouth became a straight horizontal line. There were much more people than he was expecting.

_A lot of teenagers (male and female) all together muttering things about guys and giggling. Dudes trying to do stupid things like carry more weight than the one they should, just to impress the opposite gender. Oh, a bisexual or homosexual girl trying to hide her complete lack of interest in guys from her friends. A group that probably brought some kind of narcotics hide inside innocent chocolate boxes…teenagers doing teenagers stuff…boring. Some care givers…Most of them young and male. All of them with eye bags, thin and smiling hard, probably to hide their crying desires…college students_ , concluded Sherlock.

“Good morning guys and giiiiiirls” shout a 30-35 year old woman through a megaphone “those who just arrived, please check the schedule keyboard, there you’ll find important information. Right in front of your names, you’ll find your room’s number. Women on the left camp’s side and men on the right. If you have any doubt don’t doubt on asking.”

Holmes stopped in front of the schedule keyboard. Most of the last names were English, 4 French, 5 German, 2 Italian and 3 Spanish and one he’d never seen before…was it…?

“Hey, what you doing?” A middle sized, pale and a bit anxious (nails eater) guy, apparently desperate for social acceptation.

_His girlfriend abandoned him recently (has a “couple necklet” but keeps both parts, meaning he’s not over her yet), a cigarettes pack in his pocket, probably to demonstrate he’s “rebel” and anyone beside him has control over his life…idiot. And he must be here to start a small gang and he chose me to be a part of it. And now he’ll present himself and ask me if I want to do “things against law” with him and his future little group of vandals. Idiot and boring._  "I’m Anderson. And you’re…?”

“Uninterested in smoking weed with you”

“Excu…I…I wasn’t…” tried to excuse himself nervously.

“Bye…” said Sherlock after checking his cabin number.

“How did you…?”

“Because of your desperate desire of getting attention and the bad-hidden pack of cigarettes in your right pocket. And, yes, you're that predictable” Answered walking away.

“You…freak” said louder than he should, calling the attention from more than one person.

Sherlock just walked as fast as he could straight to his cabin wanting this to finish soon.

 The cabin could have been worse. It had a door, two bunk beds, a window…and space between the bunk beds…and…and…a ceiling?...as long as it didn’t rain, everything was right.

“Damn” cracked a voice behind him. Sherlock turned and saw a thin, burned skin guy with a curious look that had dropped all his bag’s content on the ground .

“Hey, are you in this room too?”

“Well…why else would I be here?”

“Well” smiled the boy “good point. I’m Gregson, what about you?” _His hands seem hard, with some scars (maybe wood and knifes cuts) and his skin is burned despite the fact that he lives in London (his accent. And he has a bag from a common London store), and packs just the accurate stuff, which means he enjoys this sort of outdoors activities, besides he has a cap with the camp’s logo, an old one (3 years ago). Frequent visitor . Seems a tolerable human being._

“Sherlock”

“Would you… help me with this, if it’s not a big trouble.”

Sherlock helped the guy.

“So…is this your first time here?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you come?”

“Because…” _I wasn’t able to jump off my parents’ car while I was coming_ “ my mom decided I should breath some fresh air.”

“Well, this place is nice if you like that sort of stuff. I came here for the first time…like… two years ago? Or…”.

“Three” corrected the pale guy.

“…your’re right…Three years…how did you possibly kno…?”

“ The cap. It has the year sewed.”

“Oh, right, the cap” said taking it off, discovering his dark brown hair “So, we arrived first, but we should ask the others if they want to have the higher beds or the ones in the lower part. Do you have any problem with that?” _Used to be the groups’ leader_.

“No.”

“I’ll be back soon” said after picking up the stuff he dropped before.

Sherlock used one of the lower beds to lay down.

_Sleep would be an acceptable option in this moment. The closest state to be death, the perfect way to avoid the entire place._ He closed his eyes and applied the 4,7,8 breath technique.

_Inhale 4 times._

People running.

_Keep it 7 seconds._

Someone shouting. “He’s trying to escape, there, there”

_Free it in 8 seconds._

_Curiosity. A a strong desire to know or learn something._ When it has to do with (alive) people, this isn’t a common feeling Sherlock experiments. But right now he was soooooo bored that he’d had conformed with any insignificance that came with a bit of fun.

“We got him!, We got him!” A guy shouted.

Sherlock walked to the door and pocked his head.

Two tall dudes had captured a short …Blond? Chestnut? What-the-hell-is-that-color haired guy. _He’s neither happy nor frustrated or shamed, he just have a resignation and a bit tired expression._

“Yeah, we’d not had let him escape” said Anderson walking in front of the captured guy.

“What happened here?!” came the 30-35 woman. _The boss_.

“He was escaping Mrs. Smith” Anderson said.

“Who’re you?” asked Mrs. Smith with a touch of anger in her voice to the captured guy.

“John” answered with firm posture and expression. “Be more specific. We have more than 16 Johns here”

“Watson.”

“Well, John Watson, come to the main cabin. We’ll have a conversation there.”

The lady started to walk, and John Watson followed her. Then all people started to mutter stuff about which punishment would John receive. But Sherlock limited to lie down and breathe to try to sleep again.


	2. The new partner.

III

“Hey” Gray…? Grass?...woke Sherlock up touching his shoulder “wake up”

The pale guy sat down and stared at …G.

“What?”

“Mrs. Smith wants to see you”

“Why?”

“She didn't tell. She just sent me to tell you that she needs your presence.”

It hadn’t pass too long since Sherlock fell asleep. _Maybe a half hour._

_Reprimand a guy who tried to escape would take more time, so it has something to do with John Watson._

“You need my presence” announced after opening the door. Mrs. Smith left her seat.

“Yes. John Watson, this is Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock, this is John Watson. Since this exact moment, you’re responsible of this boy” sentenced Mrs. Smith ( _Ana, said a letter over her desk). Wait…_

“Excuse me, what?” He had understood, but it couldn’t be true. Now he was a baby sister.

“Since this second you’ll be in charge of John Watson. You’ll be together every single moment since now. And, if he escapes, you’ll have all the blame.”

_It doesn’t make any sense. Why me. This short man. Fit for his age. Used to physical activity but not this kind. First time here. So is mine. She’s finding a friend for us._

“I don’t think neither of us need…” _unnecessary company “_ Help to make new friends”

“I don’t care” _She actually doesn’t_ “ The thing is that this guy needs a nana and you’re new here, so you’ll have the responsibility.”

Sherlock was going to protest. The last thing he wanted was taking care of a guy that didn’t want to stay there. It was enough with himself. But John was already out of the cabin.

“Go, go after him. Now.”

The tall guy left the cabin.

He run a bit and out were a lot of people doing a lot of things, there were people walking from one side to the other, there were people laughing and eating and chatting. But there wasn’t John Watson.

Sherlock moved his head from one side to another. Looking through the distance, looking for a head moving faster than the others.

“You know” said a voice behind “I won’t try to escape again, so keep calm”

“Oh” Sherlock looked at John. _A short guy. Hairstyle= doesn’t care too much about what people thinks of him, but his parents do. Clothes fit well, not big brothers. He smiles frequently, but not because he feels like doing it, is because he wants to be gentle (wrinkles around his mouth, but not around his eyes). Cares about how others feel. Why would he try to escape then?_ “We’re at the same cabin now, I suppose”

“Yes, which is it?”

“The 21 B”

“Shall we go?”

“Yes”

When they arrived, Gregson was trying to tide his stuff.

“Hey, Mrs.Smith sent me here; I’m your new cabin mate” And then he pushed his lips.

“Hi, I’m Gregson, John Watson, right?”

“Yes” answered him a bit uncomfortable. _He doesn’t like being the attention center…he isn’t used to that. He must have little brother or sister._

“Why did you try to scape?”

“I…” _He’ll lie (breaking visual contact)_ “I was looking for the store, weren’t here supposed to be a store somewhere here?”

“We don’t have stores, but in case you need something don’t doubt on asking…” _he noticed, but decided to let it pass. Not meddlesome._

“Hey,Greg!” Shouted a shitless boy while was getting close to the cabin. “Hey, Greg, Sarah Taylor came this year, and her breasts are two times bigger than the last year.” gasped.

“Hehehe…” Gregson laughed blushing “Tom, these are Sherlock and John. They’re new in this camp.” John glanced at Tom and rectified his posture.

“Hey” greeting John and Sherlock “You should come and see too, she’s an aaangel. Come on Greg, let’s go.”

“I…I’ll be back” said the guy leaving the cabin next to the other guy.

“Where were you planning to go?” asked Sherlock.

“Hm, Excuse me?” 

“You clearly were planning to scape, but where, because if you pay attention, the nearest store is almost three walking hours away and…”

“I wasn’t escaping” interrupted John.

“Of course…”

“I messed something with a bully that was bothering a girl and then he and his friend followed me to hit me, so I started to run. They captured me, and you already know the rest of the story…Can I use the high bed?” asked pointing it.

“Yes”

John climbed the bunkbed and lay down.

_He doesn’t like people’s attention, even though; he defended a girl that was being bothered in front of a bunch of people. Maybe it was a girl he likes...But he wouldn’t have done it for someone he just knows, so it can’t be someone from the camp, which reduces the possibilities: the girl is a relative._

Sherlock copied John and lied under John’s bed.

“So…Sherlock, right? First time here?” asked

“You heard it.”

“Why did you come?”

_Because my parents are trying to distract me because they think I’m weaker than I actually am. “_ Because my mom thought it would be funny and my papa agreed.”

“He” laughed “I don’t want to be here either, but my parents want me to…”

“You need to take care of your sister”

John shut up and modified his posture until he was lying upside down. He pocked his head over Sherlock’s bed, so that he could look at him, directly in the eyes. _He is not scared, he’s smiling…_

“How could you know that?” asked him laughing. _Bright eyes, expecting answers._

“Because, you don’t like to be the attention center, but you decided to defend a girl. It could be a girl you like, but, as you don’t like people’s attention, you’d have not done what you did for a person you barley know, so it had to be a relative. You just said your parents (both of theme) wanted you to come, so, sister.” Sherlock finished the explanation. _And now he’ll go for fresh air and never talk to me again…_

“Oh my freaking god…”Said John, _for a weird reason, not scared,_ smiling. _Not the gentle sort of smile he’s used to. A real smile_ “That’s impressive…amazing…”

_Now I’m scared…what am I supposed to do when someone reacts positive to my comments?_

“You’re welcome”

_You’re welcome? YOU’RE WELCOME???!!! What the hell’s wrong with me._

Sherlock flushed a bit.

“I’m welcome? Whatever, how on earth did you found out all that stuff?”

“Observing”

“Mhm…give me more examples. What could you say about Tom?” asked challenging.

_He definitely isn’t scared…he’s curious. That isn’t boring._

“Tom” answered Sherlock turning a bit to look John better. “is an aroused teenager that knows everything about women in theory but’s never touched one. That’s why he has time to come and talk about girls with his friends instead of flirt with one. He needs glasses, that’s why he’s always frowning, but I suppose he’s too superficial to wear them. He doesn’t have appendix, operated 3 years ago judging by the scar’s age.”

“…wow…” reacted John, still smiling. “he doesn’t have appendix, eh?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice after the glance you gave to his torso”

John cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“Well…I just..ehm…Whatever, you looked too.”

“Not with the same purposes, but, don’t worry, your secret’s safe.”

“…What secret?.” Still smiling.

Then it became lunch time.

IV

“This year we’ll have much more funny than the last one, campers.” Was Ana saying while all the teenagers were eating.

Sherlock was sat next to John and in front of Greg.

“So, when she turned, I just said: Baby, you look like an angel in that dress” said tom chewing a piece of bread.

_John really likes him (his back is straight and he’s avoiding visual by looking at his food. Nervous leg movement. What does he look on him? Besides the fact that Tom isn’t exactly clever (and that would be a problem, because John obviously likes clever people) and he’s clearly heterosexual, why would John…Why do I care anyway?! Stop it!...why do I care?..._

“And she accepted the invitation?” asked Greg.

“No, and I don’t know why…” said Tom with real consternation.

“It was because of your antibacterial gel…probably” said Sherlock before he had a small bite of his (almost intact) sandwich.

“My…gel?” asked Tom a bit scared, verifying the gel presence in his pocket “How did you know I have a gel?”

“Because you use it more frequent than you realize, which gave, the girl you were talking about, the impression you were obsessed with bacteria, which isn’t attractive considering the fact that she loves dogs and you being obsessed with bacteria isn’t attractive for a girl that love animals, that’s why she rejected your invitation.” Said really fast. And then another small bite.

_John is smiling again…and impressed. Tom and my cabin mate,  (Which was his name?) G, are…in the middle point between pissed off and impressed…Now they’ll go away._

“I…I need some salt…see you later…”said Tom, and then he woke up and left the table.

“Cool…” John smiled at Sherlock.

“Thanks.”

“You…you really? That was…a bit weird…but amazing” said Greg.   _He’s neither as relaxed and pleased as John nor as scared as Tom._ “Are you eating that sandwich?”

“No” answered Sherlock handing Greg his sandwich.

The day passed, with camp’s teachers doing an induction to the youths, describing the activities that they were going to do the next two weeks.

At the end of the day all the group sat around a wood fire.

“…And the legend tells that after that day, in this very camp, those who walk around the cabins during night are abducted by the killer centaur.” A small redheaded trainer finished the story.

Most people were trying hard not to laugh. The others were chatting and some were already asleep.

“Excuse me miss, what if I have to pee during night?” asked a blond girl with a nose really similar to John’s.

_John’s sister…_

And that was the drop that spilled the glass. Al most everyone laughed.

“Whatever guys” Ana shut up everyone “I don’t want to see you walking around during the night. If you died by hypothermia I’d be the guilty…”

People freed a slow laugh.

“Have a good night campers, in the morning we’ll start with the camp activities”

In the cabin 21 B were officially three people. But Tom wanted to stay close to Greg, and as it wasn’t a problem because they had one more bed, Tom moved.

_Four people breathing…_

Sherlock couldn’t sleep.

_John breaths more silent than the other two people. I wonder if he has his mouth open. He hasn’t move since we started to sleep. He doesn’t have a good relationship with his sister. Did he notice I noticed it? Why isn’t he scared of me? He’s weird for not being scared. Maybe he’s just being kind or…I shouldn’t care!_

Sherlock sat down silently. The space was too small. He needed fresh air.

He left the cabin as silently as he could. The door made a loudly noise, but anyone seemed to heard it, all of them remained asleep.

He sat on the wood that rounded the front side of the cabin.

_What for would a centaur kill youth campers? And if it had a good reason to do it, why just during night? If he had enough strength…Ridiculous, not real, thinking about that isn’t useful. Being here isn’t useful. Everything my own fault, anyway.NO, isn’t useful to think about that either. Why do I have John’s face like a water mark as wallpaper? NO!  Shut up, can I just turn myself down for three seconds, that’d be amazing. Or not, stupid brain. Now it’s cold. Why didn’t I bring the blanket? Stupid incapacity to predict possible circumstances. And where in the freaking hell is that damn killer centaur when you need it?_

Suddenly, from nowhere, a hand touched Sherlock’s shoulder. He jumped a bit “Are you a reckless man that doesn’t fear the centaur killer?” asked a voice he already knew.

“John…” gasped trying to normalize his breath.

“Sorry, I scared you more than I actually wanted. Why are you here?” said sitting next to him. _He brought his own blanket._

“I wanted some fresh air, did I wake you up?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep either. But you just broke two rules”

“Two? Walking around at night and…”

“You left me alone for more than three minutes”

“Well, you couldn’t go anywhere, could you? The centaur killer would have abducted you before you could go anywhere”

“Yeah…abducted and raped me.”

Sherlock glanced at John frowning. “Why would it…?

“Why else would a centaur “killer” abduct teenagers?”

“So, according to you, this is a pervert centaur that rapes teenagers and then kills them for mercy, so that they won’t have to deal with traumatic memories.” said Sherlock frowning more than before, seriously.

“Yes, just like that” answered John very serious.

And then both explode in giggling.

Still smiling, Sherlock rubbed unconsciously his arm, because of the cold.

“Here you are” John handed him another blanket. He had thought in Sherlock too.

“Thank you.” _He looks like porcelain under the moonlight. Like a well done piece of porcelain. Stop looking! That was weird, and he noticed. Crap!_

“It’s not too cold now, is it?”

“No” But Sherlock wasn’t sure if it was just the blanket.

And with John sat next to Sherlock, the slumber flooded their bodies.


	3. Sunscreen tube.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of Johnlock here

**V**

“What are you doing here?” asked Tom, loud enough to wake up both.

“We wanted some fresh air” answered John yawning.

It was pretty early in the morning.

_Not even 5 am, two hours left to start the activities._

“Why are you already awake by the way?” John asked when Greg came next to Tom

“Tom is sleepwalker.”

“Really?” asked John interested.

“No” answered Tom “But there were some noises coming from there” he pointed the cabin’s right side.

“It must had been...the centaur killer”said Greg.

General laughter. General laughter interrupted abruptly for a metallic object that was thrown through the air and landed some feet near the place the four youth were.

They glanced at each other.

_That was a knife with ...a bit of red on one side?. A crime has been commited…_

_“_ Was that…a …”

“A knife. Probably a pocket knife, judging by the size.” answered Sherlock

_A crime…maybe a murder…A MURDER! No, don’t you dare to get excited about th…too late. Just don’t demonstrate it. DO NOT DEMONSTRATE IT. They’re scared, Greg less than Tom, but John…John seems curious with a pinch of concern._

The boys walked in a line to the place the knife came from, Greg in front of them. He lifted his hand.

“Oh my god…” said him covering his mouth with his hand.

There it was. The small woman that had  told them centaur killer story the last night...dead.

_A clean and straight cut  across her jugular. Any other cut, she didn’t try to defend herself. The corpse's position suggests that she was killed while she was lying on the floor. All the teachers carry with them pocket knives, but her pockets are empty. She was killed with her own pocket knife. The blood state suggests this happened half hour ago. The killer wanted us to see it…Would it be too scary if I got closer to the corpse to smell it? Yes it would, don't do it._

“Tom, wake up Ana, now.”

Sherlock turned and run to the place the knife had fallen.

“What are you doing?” asked John following him.

“Looking for the weapon”.

_This can’t possibly be a planned murder. And at the same time, this can’t possibly be a not planned murder. Using her own weapon against her, but the scene was carefully cleaned  to be completly improvised._

“Here” said John standing next to the homicidal weapon.

Sherlock got close. There it was. The knife.

_Seems the killer sank the knife tip deep in here neck, for the amount of blood. The killer did it slowly._

“That was her own knife, wasn’t it?” asked John staring carefully at the weapon.

_He’s not scared, he’s just curious. Not the same “happy curiosity” he shows when he sees me deducing something, is more like a “serious curiosity”. But still, he should be frightened, but he’s not._

_What the hell is wrong with him?_

“It seems so”

“What…Oh my god, what’s this?” Said Ana arriving and getting pale.

“We awoke earlier. We were chatting out of the cabin and from here, someone threw the homicidal weapon to there” pointed the place where Sherlock and John were standing. “Then, we came to see and found here…the gir...corpse…here” Greg swallowed.

  Ana called all the teachers, and after hiding the body, they called the police.

   A man arrived.

   _Old friend (Ana’s old friend). She’s embarassed. Old romance? No. Good shape and healthy for her age. Maybe she wanted to be a police, but judging the fact that she’s partially blind of one eye (the way she just put things in the left side of her desk despite she’s right-handed and the way she frowns to read) she wasn’t able to enter in the police._

   A couple of minutes after talking to the police, Ana came to tell Sherlock, John, Tom and Greg, that they had to keep the secret.

   She gave the guys some reasons about the camp’s prestige…blablabla, the importance of maintain the calm and don’t scare the others, blablabla…

    _Selfish idiot…_

   “Who committed the crime?” Asked Sherlock.

   “Excuse me, sweetie?” Said Ana, surprisingly gentle trying to avoid the question.

   “You don’t even have idea, do you?” complained John. _Not scared, just outraged._

   “No, but we have some policemen doing research. They’re going to find the murderer, don’t worry about that, everyone’ll be safe.”

   Ana sent the guys to the normal activities, and told them to forget about the event. Thing they didn’t do.

   “We saw something, maybe that sort of information seems useless to us but is relevant for the police” said Tom, less excited than usual.

   “Yes, besides, I could tell them whatever they need to know about the camp. I’ve been coming here since I was old enough to come”.

   “And you’re sure anything like this happened before?” asked John sardonically.

   “I…don’t know…but I’m definitely not coming back…”

   _A college student. That is lamentable. The killer was good. Really really good in deed. The person didn’t leave any clue behind. Any. The killer cleaned the scene deliberately. And did it perfectly._

_Why her? Was she a random victim? Maybe revenge. The killer had the opportunity to do it here. But it doesn’t fit, she/he (let’s call it **it** ) had better places to do it to make it look like an accident (an accidental drown in the river for example) but it decided to show us the crime deliberately._

_“_ Sherlock …“.

_If it is that smart to clean the crime scene like that, it wouldn’t have done it that way, it could have done it much better._

_Again, it wanted us to notice, so it must not have been revenge. Maybe…_

   “Hey, Sherlock!” John stopped and stood in front of Sherlock, trying to stop him.

   _The answer must be in the victim information. Personal information._

   Sherlock noticed John, but was too busy thinking that he didn’t stop walking on time.

   And he hit John. And they fell to the ground together.

   “Excuse me” said Sherlock rising on his feet as quick as gravity allowed him.

   _Oh no, crap. My cheeks are hot, why are they hot?_

He offered John his hand. John took it.

   “Hey, finally back on earth” _Joking, sigh…_ “so, you agree with the plan?”

   “What plan?”

   “Tell the police what we know”

   “Ok” _nice, not angry._

   But when they tried to tell the police, they ignored them because “they were just kids.”

   “Don’t worry, this won’t happen again, you’re safe.”

    But Sherlock wanted…no, he needed to know who that perfect killer was.

**VI.**

“Well, guys, we’ll do a really long walk today!” said one of the guides “don’t forget to bring all the things we need, we don’t want to carry unconscious people.”

   _Perfect, all the campers will walk in a row; I’ll be able to observe them all if I stand on the accurate point. I’ll walk in front of them and then stop and deduce everything my eyes allow me to._

   “John, come on.”

   “But, Greg and Tom are...” said John complaining, but following Sherlock.

   “Not coming with us, move on.”

   “Where are you…?”

   “To the row’s top. If we go there and then we stop walking, we’ll be able to observe every single camper and the guides that come with us. (3 if I’m not wrong). We need to be alert, look for people that seem tired, and left handed, I’m almost sure our murderer is left handed. And…”

   “Wait” cut John the fast walk and discourse of his cabin mate “How could you know that the…?”

   “Tired?, because we went to sleep at the same time and it awoke at least an hour before us, which means  _it_ slept less than 4 hours, ergo:  _it_ must be tired and may have eye bags. Considering the cut position in the victim, the murderer must be left handed, but there’s something that doesn’t fit…the cut is something I’ve nev…

   “We’re calling the murderer “it”?”

   _Changed his posture when he said “we”. He likes it, when I include him._

   “Yes, because I’m not sure if we’re looking for a woman or a men yet.”

   “And you know all those things since the glance you gave the corpse.”

   “Yes, sadly I wasn’t able to observe too deeply…let’s stop here, we’ll wait the crowd…right here.” Sherlock said hiding behind a bush.

   “Ok” said John placing himself next to Sherlock.

   _Teachers, they look as worried as they should be after one of them was murdered, NOT THEM._

_Boring children, boring teenager, weed smoker (too weak to commit homicide), Anderson (too stupid), a four eyed boy (too slow), John’s sister (too picky to tolerate blood)(…John doesn’t like her…Interesting), thin guy with…with a kni!…Oh, forget it the way he walks. Boring Casanova, too tall, too lazy, too short, too…_

   “Sherlock, he has a small knife in his pock…”

   “Nope, he’s innocent”.

   “Why do you say th…?”

   “Because he drags his feet when he walks, therefore, he’d have let a trail”

   “Oh…would you stop interrupting me when I’m…”

   “Shhhh” interrupted Sherlock covering John’s mouth with his hand.

   _Damn, a guide heard us, crapcrapcrap…_

   “Whm…me…wh…”

   “What are you doing here?” said a tall Asian guy.

   _Worried and scared, too insecure to commit a murder._

“We were looking for my…my…”

   “Sunscreen” said John lifting a small tube “ I was bothering him and threw his sunscreen, but I rejected and decided to help him to find it” said putting the tube in Sherlock’s hand “well, let’s go we already found it” still holding Sherlock’s hand and leading him to the row.

   _Hard palms, a lot of physical activity. Feels good to hold it though…_

   Still holding hands.

   “I didn’t notice he was coming, sorry” muttered John.

   “We had the perfect opportunity to observe most of the campers and you ruined it. But don’t worry, we still have 13 days to discover the murderer”.

   “Oh, well Mr. WhatIhavetosayisbetterthanwhatyouhavetosay, If you hadn’t been so rude we’d still be…”

   “Yes, but we’re not, besides I’m not rude, I’m stopping you from saying unnecessary words”.

   “Well, is rude, don’t do th…!” muttering dangerously loud.

   “You're already holding hands, that was quick” Greg interrupted from behind.

   “And a small fight, your first disagreement?” Tom added.

   “We…we’re not a couple” said freeing Sherlock’s hand after staring at it for a second.

   _Nooo, that hand…Nooo, that hand? What?...A really pleasant hand, and It’s gone._

   “What were you doing?” Greg asked.

   “Trying to find suspects, but then John ruined it”

   “Yeah, the fault was just mine…” answered sarcastically.

   “Did you find any?”

   “No”

   “Well, we could compensate this by watching girls in swimsuit; we’re going to swim in the lake in a couple of minutes it’ll be a paradise” said Tom excited.

   Greg smiled scratching his head, a bit embarrassed.

   John smiled, _the fake way_.

   Sherlock looked at John.

 


	4. Oscar.

**VII**

   Sherlock observed, but he didn’t get any useful information besides the fact that John was embarrassed by his sister’s behavior and really impressed by Tom’s figure.

   _I’m taller, and smarter…_

Had thought Sherlock, for a reason he couldn’t identify when he saw John looking at Tom’s perfect abs.

   “I can’t see any of the old campers killing a teacher, we’re practically a family” said Greg chewing a bite of the lunch.

   “What about the guides, are all of them the same of the lasts years?” asked Sherlock with his hands pressed against each other in front of his mouth.

   “Well…most of them are the same, but there are two or three I’ve never seen before”

   _Let’s begin there then. Considering the fact that the victim was murdered in a place that…no, It doesn’t have anything to do. The more I think, the senseless it gets. The hour it occurred, the…NO, WRONG. Keep calm…breath…1,2,3,…4,5,6…The answer must be…The who and the Why… I’m in a nutshell. I need information. Information about the victim._

“Tell me everything you know about the victim”.

   “Well…hmm. As every guide here, she was a medicine student…hm…like most of the guides here, she must have been orphan or she escaped from home…hmm…I don’t know, I didn’t get along too much with her…”

   “Orphan?”

   “Yes, well, most of the guides here come from…” stopped to swallow some water “orphanages. The university that owns this place has some agreements with an orphanage. When the orphans grow older, they can study there for free, but in return they have to clean the installations, work in some places and give all the money to the university. The guides are from the medicine school.”

   _That explains why anyone refused to keep their mouths closed about the murder incident._

“And personal information? Her friends, enemies…”

   “I didn’t know her that well; I think she used to spend her time with a guy called Oscar. The guy that always is wearing a _Nirvana_ t-shirt”

   Sherlock turned around and saw the guy sat in a table, with an empty seat next to him.

   _Irritated eyes, probably have been trying to not cry this whole time. Fallen shoulders and miserable expression. Yes, he was her friend; probably more than that considering the fact that they were wearing matching neckless._

“John, come with me” said Sherlock standing up from the chair and going to the guides’ table.

   “But I’ve not finished my lunch yet, and you’ve not even touched yours” said following Sherlock anyway.

   “I need you”

   John just cleared his throat and answered

   “Really?”

   _Is he flushing? Misunderstood misunderstood misunderstood._

“I mean: I need your social skills. Would you talk to the victim’s friend and ask him some questions? Like, personal information about her.”

   “Why don’t you do that?”

   “Because I’m a rude person and will end up saying something insensitive that could mess the entire plan” said Sherlock seriously. John couldn’t help laughing a bit. “Please.”

   “Ok”

   They sat next to Oscar and found out that he and the victim were almost a couple. Neither of them had much friends here because they went to the orphanage a bit older than the others.

   “I’m sorry for your lost” said John empathically.

   “Why was she alone?” asked Sherlock.

   “I…” the guide covered his face with his hand some seconds and then continued “I…we argued. I can’t even remember about what. She left the cabin with…she left the cabin after saying she wanted…after saying she wanted to be alone…and then…I fell asleep and…that was the last time…the last time I saw her…” ended his story pressing his lips to avoid crying.

   “What did she do after your argument and before leaving the cabin? She didn’t leave the cabin just with her pocket knife did she? What did she leave the cabin for?”

   Oscar got a bit paler and remained quiet.

   “You don’t have to know, it isn’t relevant.” said finally.

   “And you don’t have any suspects?”

   “No…I can’t think of any suspect” Oscar said more calmed.

   “Are you completely sure?” John added.

   “Yes. We have to go, the lunch time is finished.” said standing up a bit abruptly.

   “Poor man, he seemed sad”

   “We have a new suspect, John”

   “Who?”

   “Oscar”

   “Are you nuts?”

   “If you look closely, he was not crying, he induced that symptom with menthol. The smell was almost gone, but not completely. He wants people to think he’s bad because of her death. In second place, he hid some information about why she left the cabin. He had the opportunity since he knew where she was and the perfect moment to kill her. He doesn’t seem too smart to clean a crime scene like that, but that could have another explanation. And he had his right hand irritated by some kind of insect bite, at least from yesterday, which means he couldn’t have been able to use it today in the morning, which implies he must have used his left hand.”

   “Oh…that makes sense.” John said with a fascinated look.

   “Yes. There are some things that don’t fit…but at least we have more information than before. We just need to find evidence now.” Sherlock smiled.

**VIII**

 “Well campers, we have to present a theater play for the next week. As we have a lot of people, we need to think about a scenario where every person could be part of. Any suggestion?” said a young blond woman.

   _The best way to find out new information about Oscar is spending time him, but considering he’s just in charge of starting fires, playing songs and some walks, we couldn’t be able to be with him enough time. John and I’ll have to skip some activities…_

“John, would you be disposed to…?”

   “We could do a play about a man” shouted Anderson “Who loves to cook, and he goes to a forest and feed the animals”

   “Mh…ok…any other suggestion?”

   Sherlock held John’s hand and took him aside

   _I guess I really like his hands._

“What?” asked John staring at Sherlock’s eyes.

   “Would you…” releasing their hands “Would you be disposed to skip some activities?”

   “Why? I know they’re not the funniest thing we could do, but they’re not that b…”

   “If we did it, we would be able to collect more information about Oscar”

   “Ok…But how would you know he’s the killer? I mean…”

   “I don’t know what would we be looking for, I’m blank. But I’m sure by that way we could find more information than doing nothing at all.”

   “Ok…what’s the plan?”

   “After theater, we have “Nature recognition”, we could just walk back and observe Oscar.”

   “Fine, I just hope they don’t find us” he glanced at the theater teacher “Are you a good actor?”

   “Just when circumstances demand it”

   “For example?”

   “Once I acted an entire week as if I was drugged, just to see how my brother panicked”

   “Really?” John raised his eyebrows amused.

   _Wow, I feel like smiling now. When he smiles I feel like smiling…that’s weird._

“Yep” Sherlock answered reintegrating their selves to the crowd of teenagers.

   The group ended up deciding to recreate a battle and then a small speech about the misfortune and misery that a good actress offered to do.

   John and Sherlock did what they planned, but it was a complete waste of time, turned out that the guy drunk some sleeping pills and used menthol because his nostrils were irritated, he wasn’t the killer.

   _Blank blank blank…_

“I’m sure we’ll find something soon, don’t worry.” John tried to comfort his friend.

   Sherlock couldn’t remember being that frustrated ever in his life.

   He couldn’t sleep again.

   He left the cabin as silent as he could, carried with him a pocket flashlight.

   _It’s a bit silent. If John were here it would be a bit nicer…I guess I like his presence._

_Maybe it wasn’t Oscar, but who else?...Only if I could get more information about the corpse state. The exact time she was death…_

Sherlock stopped his walk suddenly.

   _Someone stepped on a stick; someone’s following me…If it’s the killer…_

He turned around. Nothing.

  One step. Another. Sherlock gave some steps and poked his head.

   “He…hey¡ don’t look” complained a thin guy trying to pee on a tree. The thin guy that had the knife in his pocket this morning.

   “Sorry” said Sherlock walking in the opposite direction.

   _That guy could have been a good suspect, but he walks shuffling. The killer doesn’t do that. But the height and weight would have fit. The killer doesn’t weight more than 90 pounds, maybe less. Otherwise it would’ve been really difficult to leave the crime scene that clean._

Sherlock decided to return to his cabin. In his way back, he noticed that all the teenagers sleep deeply when they’re tired enough.

   One of the guides was out of his cabin. It was Oscar.

   _With a small pack between his hands. He’s going to drug himself._

Sherlock deduced correctly.

   _Seems a relaxing practice…_

He arrived to his cabin, but when he got in something was wrong. John wasn’t there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying. Things will get more focussed in Sherlock-John relationship soon.


	5. Epiphany

**VIII**

   “John!” muttered Sherlock after closing the door.

    _He must be near. Too dark I can’t see the ground. A flashlight. I need a flashlight. Gibson?...whatever, he had one in his back pack. No, stupid, you already have one._

Sherlock turned on the pocket flashlight and walked around the cabin.

 _“_ John!!!”

_Why do I even care? The worst that could happen is to find John’s corpse. That would mean: potential new evidence. The bad side: John would be gone. And that would be bad because…_

_“_ Hey, where are you going?” said the only voice Sherlock wanted to hear.

   Sherlock turned around and pointed with the light. There was John, standing in front of him. He sighed relived.

   “I was looking for you. You weren’t in the cabin.”

   “Well, I had to pee and the floor didn’t seem the best place to do it. What about you? What were you doing?”

   John got close to Sherlock. And closer. Closer.

    _He’ll touch my hand?…he’ll touch my hand,he…_

John turned the flashlight (that Sherlock was holding) off.

   “I couldn’t sleep, so I went to look for some clues.”

   “Anything new?”

   “Just Oscar drugging himself and a guy peeing.”

   “Wow…poor man he must feel sorrowful. We should go back to sleep.”

   “We haven’t found new things. I won’t be able to sleep, John” Sherlock complained.

   “How on earth aren’t you tired? We walked a lot. And we didn’t sleep well, and you didn’t even eat properly.”

   “Because I really want to find out who did it.”

   “Why aren’t you pissed off about the whole “murder” situation?”

    _Shall I tell him the truth? Shall I lie?...Is John, so:_

   “Well…in my free time I…is…not exactly just in my free time, but…well…ehm…I like murders.”

   “…Murders? Like…not to commit them, right?” said joking.

    _Just a bit curious, not panicking, that's new._

“Well, I’ve never practiced one, I mean…I don’t like them in that way, I like to read and hear about them and see crime scenes.”

   “Like a police?”

   “I’d not say so. It’s more like a… detective work.”

   “Oh…In my free time I run.”

   Sherlock grinned and so did John.

   “I thought in your free time you did research about medicine or veterinary stuff.”

   “How…? Why do you say so?”

   “Well, if you weren’t interested in blood and corpses, you would have pissed off like Tom and…and…Gary?”

   “Greg, and…It’s complicated, I’d like to be a doctor, but my father wants me to join the army.”

   “Why?”

   "Because my grandfather and he used to..."

   "No, why do you want to be a doctor?"

   “It’s the only “work” that doesn’t seem…you know… boring” answered walking some steps, getting away from the cabin.

   “Didn’t you want to sleep?”

   “Not anymore thanks to you”

   “Where are you going?”

   “I don’t know, but I don’t feel like going back . Any suggestions?”

   “Maybe Ana have some extra information about the woman that was killed, in her office. Do you want to see if…John!”

    Sherlock stopped suddenly. Next to Oscar’s cabin was a lump.

   “What?  Don’t tell me that you’re scared of d…” But when he saw what Sherlock was staring at, he fell silent.

   Both got close to the apparently new crime scene.

    _The new victim is Oscar, the first victim’s boyfriend (…ex-boyfriend…whatever)._

_His throat was cut while he was lying on the floor, like the other woman. He doesn’t have his pocket knife either. Some blood on his fingertips. The blood state suggests that he’s been death…0 seconds._

Sherlock observed the victim quietly, he wasn't dead. Yet.

   “John!, is alive, he’s still alive. Call Ana, now!”

   John nodded and run as fast as he could.

   “Oscar, can you hear me?”

    _The cut suggests that the murderer was left-handed like with the other victim._

_Not a single trace…this one is good._

   “Oscar, can you hear me?”

   But Oscar was already unconscious and in a couple of second stopped breathing.

    _Where’s the knife…the knife the knife…_

Sherlock looked around with the flashlight.

“What happened?” Ana said. She apeared with two undercovered policemen.

   One of them covered the corpse with a black bag and took it away.

   Ana was much more worried and scared than the other day. She took Sherlock and John to her office again.

   “What the hell were you doing out there?”

   “I needed to pee and John came with me because I didn’t want to stay alone considering the fact that a murderer is free among us and you ordered us to be together all the time. Now, where were the policemen? They weren’t on guard, or at least we didn’t see any. And, do you have more information about the first vict…?”

   “Listen, you ..., you damn..., now you’re suspects. Were you two together this whole time? Can you testify that neither of you killed Oscar?”

    _John wasn’t with me all this time. Actually, after what I told him he has all the reasons in this world to think that I committed the crime. And…_

   “Yes, he woke me up when he needed to go to…well…pee. We were looking for a tree to do…you know…and then we found Oscar lying on the floor. We were together all this time, and I assure you that we didn’t commit any murder.”

   “Fine...” Ana alternated her glances between Sherlock and John. After a few seconds she added. “I don’t want to see you doing inappropriate stuff like walking around at midnight here. You won’t say a single word of this incident to anyone. If I see you doing even a little thing against the rules again, you  _will_  reject it, did you hear me?”

   “Yes, but you really don’t know anything new about the other victim?”

   “I do know, but I’m not allowed to tell you. Now, get out.”

   Sherlock tried to get information talking to the police, but they didn’t say a word.

   _The first and second victims were close to each other, maybe an enemy in common…No, perhaps interests in common, like drugs…_

“Do you think that keeping this secret is a good idea?” John asked when they were returning to the cabin.

   “No, but now we’re uncommunicated with people from outside, so it’s convenient to keep Ana thinking that we won’t say a word about this”

   “Do you think the killer will murder more people? Who could this person be…?”

   “I think I know who the killer is or, well, who the killer was.”

   John stopped, opening his eyes a lot.

   “Who?”

   “It was Oscar and his friend.”

   “…you’re kidding aren’t you?”

   “The last time I saw Oscar, he was using drugs. If he used drugs, is very probable that his ex-girlfriend had used them too. Maybe that was the thing Oscar was hiding, that she left the cabin the other night to drug herself. There are a lot of drugs that are easy to get (considering that they were medicine students and did practices in hospitals, near to a lot of medicine). There are some drugs that relax the CNS like anticonvulsive medication, that kind of medication works if you want to drug yourself, but the side effects of that medication if you have an overdose includes: nausea, headaches, addiction and _self-harm impulses_.”

   “…Self-harm?”

   “Exactly. I’m not sure if  _that_  level of self-harm is possible, but it fits. The cut was something I never saw before. I thought the killer was left handed, but I was wrong. They did the cuts to their selves with their right hands. They were almost a couple, so they must have used the same kind of drugs. In conclusion, they did it to their selves.”

   “That…Oh my god, Sherlock. That was…amazing. Wonderful. Impressive…I’m” said John genuinely amazed staring at his friend. “…sorry, talking too much.”

   “No, it’s...it's actually fine...thanks”  _am I feeling like smiling?_ _don’t you dare to smile._ Then, Sherlock couldn’t help smiling. “ But that is just one part of the problem.”

   “You already found out who committed the crime…suicide…, what else could…?”

   “Someone threw the knife the morning we…” _slept_ _together...no no no “_ we and our cabin mates woke up earlier.  Which means someone else knows about this.”

   “Oh…I see. Why hasn't that person say anything about what they saw? Because this person saw the body, right?”

   “Yes, and that's a good question. Not as interesting as solving a murder, but I guess finding out who that person is will keep me busy these days…”

   “Shouldn’t we tell the police?”

   “They will find out with the autopsy.”

    He and John went back to sleep.

    _He looks bright when he’s impressed…_

   And with that face in mind, Sherlock fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're back :'v  
> Ps:don't let appearances fool you :)

**Author's Note:**

> :)


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